Clash of the tech titans: Silicon Valley fractures over Harris vs Trump
Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk called tech investor and Democrat Vinod Khosla “deranged" on X over the latter’s distaste for the former president. Kamala Harris supporter and chief executive of the cloud-computing company Box, Aaron Levie, suggested investor David Sacks must be high on cough syrup for supporting Trump. Green tech investors who admired Musk are calling him a traitor to the cause for siding with Trump.
An extraordinary public war of words is brewing in Silicon Valley as some of the biggest names in technology take shots at former friends and colleagues in the run-up to the presidential election. This kind of infighting has been rare in previous presidential elections as the tech industry has historically leaned left. During this election, a small and influential group of leaders—including Musk—have opened their wallets to support Trump and have become increasingly vocal about switching party lines, triggering backlash from others who have historically kept quiet about their politics.
The political divide is souring business relationships and testing old friendships. “Silicon Valley is very tense right now because there are two opposing camps of individuals who do business together," said Sam Singer, a public-relations expert who has run campaigns for Democratic politicians. “This is an unusual situation," he added.
Democrats’ efforts were invigorated as Harris—who is from the San Francisco Bay Area—became the presidential candidate. The vice president attended a fundraiser co-hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in San Francisco a few weeks ago, raising more than $13 million. Harris’s tech supporters say her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention held an unexpected bonus.
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